The journey was anything but smooth. The entire crew was on edge and with good reason. It was very likely their plan was not going to work. Even if it did, it was possible that none of them would live long enough to see the results.
When presented with the choice and the potential consequences, good and bad, the entire crew volunteered, much to Lawrence’s surprise and relief. Ramirez quickly decided that Doc and the wounded should be transferred to the freighter, and Lawrence assigned two of his own crew to accompany them back with a copy of the intelligence, in case the mission went badly. The next six hours were filled with a flurry of activity. The entire crew focused their energies on completing the repairs that were need to get the ship underway and to its destination.
Ramirez had determined the most likely location for the DSF counterattack, but he was far from certain. Lawrence and the lieutenant decided to use the jump point at the far edge of the system and then, if the DSF fleet was actually there, proceed at sub-light and attempt to contact Admiral Pierce. The plan was risky if the DSF fleet was there, but if the Absolution guessed incorrectly Ramirez and Lawrence hoped they would have time to escape.
The five hours it took to reach the system were not spent idle. Ramirez spent his time digging through the intel and trying to organize so the fleet could make the best use of it as soon as possible. Lawrence helped with repairs where he could and organized the crew. Since a boarding action was unlikely, most of Ramirez’s men were assigned as damage control teams, with the remaining men manning the plasma cannons. Larson had proved invaluable to Michaels in getting the engines back up and running and was assigned to help him in the engine room.
“Two minutes to system. Standby for real space.” Hunter announced.
“Thank you Hunter.” Lawrence shifted in his chair and activated the comm unit on its arm. “We are entering the system; all hands take station and standby.” The captain switched channels. “Michaels, are we ready?”
The comm speaker chirped “Yes, Captain, we’re as good as we’re gonna get.”
“You’ve got your orders. Keep the shields up as long as possible and when they’re gone keep the engines running. Do whatever it takes to get us there. Don’t ask permission and don’t hesitate, just do it.”
There was a long pause before Michaels responded “I understand, Captain.”
Hunter began counting off. “Thirty seconds…twenty…ten…5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” The ship dropped back into real space.
“Alright, scan for the fleet. Let’s hope we guessed right.”
Ramirez began to look over the data as it came in. “No sign of the fleet, Captain.”
“Damn it,” Lawrence swore in frustration. “Where else could they be?”
“I’m not sure they’re going anywhere else, Sir. Here, let me show you.” Ramirez reach over and activated the holo-projector. “I’m almost certain the fleet is coming here. Nearly seventy-five percent of the enemy fleet is here, including most of their capital ships. Also, it looks like there are several repair depots near the innermost planet, probably to protect them. With this much of the fleet here, this has to be the target. I think we’re early.”
Lawrence studied the display. “I agree. We can’t be certain without a more detailed scan, but based on what we got from the scan and the intel we already have, their fleet is more banged up than we expected. If Pierce has even half this much information, he’ll be coming here. So the question is, what’s the play?”
“We wait. No ship has made any moves towards us. It looks as though they don’t know we’re here. We’re pretty far out, so if we stay quiet and no patrols find us, we can stay here until the DSF arrives.”
“Alright.” Lawrence said reaching for his comm unit. “Michaels, take us down to minimum power. We need to minimize our energy signature and keep ourselves hidden. Keep everything on standby, though. We may need to power up on short notice.” The captain turned to his pilot. “Hunter, we’re going to need escape routes. Plot hyperspace jumps back the way we came, to port and to starboard. All jumps should take us back to friendly lines, directly if possible, if not, only one extra jump.”
“Captain, if it’s alright I’m going to have one of the damage control teams bring combat rations around. Most of us can’t remember the last time we ate.” Ramirez said sheepishly.
Lawrence settled into his chair. “Go ahead. Lord knows, I could use something too.”
Although not particularly pleased with combat rations, the crew was grateful for the repast before they settled down to wait for the Democratic Systems Fleet.
— — —
It was almost four hours before the DSF arrived. Ramirez was the first to notice.
“Sir, we’ve got incoming. Looks to be a large number of ships. Scanning for IFF…It’s the DSF.”
“Finally.” Lawrence leaned forward. “How big is the fleet? Is the Actium with them?”
“It looks to be almost the entire fleet. The Actium is near the center of the line. Their is moving into attack positions. The enemy is pretty disorganized. Looks like they’re scrambling.” A grin began to creep across Ramirez’s face.
“Alright, we’re going to have to make a run for the Actium, as straight a shot as possible. This may not be pretty, but if we move quickly we should be able to avoid the heaviest cross fire.” Lawrence flipped on the ship’s announcing circuit. “All hands, the fleet has arrived and we are going to make a direct run for the flagship. Engine Room, restore full power and prepare for maximum acceleration. All damage control teams standby, we’re going to be taking fire, some of it will likely be friendly.”
Within moments the ship’s engines were humming, producing all the power they could muster. Seconds later, Ramirez reported that all hands were in position and standing by.
“All right Hunter, set course for the Actium and proceed at best possible speed.” Lawrence ordered.
“Understood, Sir. Based on current position and velocity, we will reach the Actium in four minutes, forty-two seconds. First contact with enemy rear in three minutes, seventeen seconds.
As Hunter propelled the ship forward, the deck beneath Lawrence’s feet shook for a moment and then evened out. Though he had every confidence in his crew, they had already put the Absolution through far more than a cargo ship could be reasonably be expected to survive. More than anyone else, Lawrence realized exactly how fragile their ship was and exactly how likely it was that they wouldn’t make it to the Actium. Once those capital ships starting firing on one another, the chances of being hit in the crossfire was a near certainty and only a very lucky shot would prove anything but fatal.
Ramirez broke the silence. “Sir, I’m getting something odd from the enemy fleet. We should be getting pretty chaotic readings as they scramble to alert postures, but I’m still getting exactly the same readings we’ve been getting since we arrived. It’s not making any sense.”
“Let me have a look.” Lawrence leaned over Ramirez’s shoulder and studied the sensor data. “No, you’re right. This doesn’t make any sense. Not one ship has powered weapons or raised shields. Something is definitely wrong.”
Lawrence and Ramirez didn’t have to wait long for their answer. As the Democratic Systems Fleet approached, the lead ships were suddenly raked by a blinding array of enemy fire. The DSF ships, caught completely unaware, were riddled by explosions, first external and quickly followed by internal magazines and compartment decompression. By the time the second salvo found its mark, the DSF vanguard began to crumble. Those ships that hadn’t been destroyed or disabled turned in any direction they could, in order to avoid the next round that was sure to follow. In the ensuing chaos, the DSF’s second line began to open fire, though their efforts were severely hampered by the haphazard withdrawal of the vanguard.
“What the hell was that?!” Ramirez cried out.
“Doesn’t matter,” Lawrence replied, “If we live through this, we can worry about it then.” Under his breath he mumbled “If not, it’s someone else’s problem.”
Turning his full attention to the disaster that was unfolding before them, he began issuing orders, “Keep going, Hunter. Ramirez, let me know when we’re in communications range. Maybe we can get Pierce’s attention without having to get too close.”
“Approaching enemy formation now, Sir.”
“Standby all weapons. Do not fire unless fired on. Whatever you do, keep us moving toward the Actium. Don’t stop for any reason.”
Hunter’s hands danced across the flight controls as the Absolution began to twist and weave its way through the maze of enemy ships and friendly weapons fire. Bolts of plasma and blue-gray hulls whizzed past the viewing window, but Hunter dodged both with practiced ease. For all his deft maneuvering, each new evasion caused the hull to creak and moan in ways that made Lawrence sick to his stomach.
“Ramirez, any luck trying to hail the admiral?”
“Not yet sir, they’re jamming all but the most direct communications. We need to be much closer for this to work.”
Moments later the Absolution came streaking out in front of the enemy fleet. Now the real challenge began. No longer were they only trying to dodge incoming fire; now they had to avoid the enemy fire coming from behind as well.
“Thirty seconds to the fleet.” Hunter said, through gritted teeth. The strain was taking its toll on the pilot as well as the ship. The ship was being buffeted back and forth by near misses from both directions. They couldn’t get out of this crossfire fast enough.
Suddenly the ship’s movements became less frantic and Hunter appeared to relax ever so slightly. “We’ve cleared the DSF perimeter. We’ll be in close burst comm range with the Actium in twenty two seconds.”
Lawrence breathed a sigh of relief. “Ramirez, standby to signal Admiral Pierce.”
“Yes, Sir.” Replied Ramirez. “Signaling the Actium now.”
A confused look came over Ramirez’s face and he appeared to repeat the same commands on the control console several times. “I’ve got a problem. The Actium’s comm system is prompting me for command authorization codes and I don’t have any. I’ve tried entering in my personal authorization code, but it the computer won’t accept it.”
Lawrence felt his heart sink. To have made it this far only to be stopped by some damn computer firewall. There had to be a way around it, but he didn’t know if they had the time to figure it out. The fleet had already taken a severe beating and without this intel, they probably wouldn’t last much longer. He had to be missing something.
After what seemed like an eternity of Ramirez staring at him, waiting for orders, Lawrence stumbled on to an idea. He rushed forward to Ramirez’s console and began furiously typing a code into the computer. “I have no idea if this will work—in fact, it shouldn’t—but it’s all I’ve got.”
Both men held their breath, waiting for the Actium’s firewall to respond. Finally, the computer bleeped and the screen flashed green, indicating that a channel had been opened.
“Quick! Send the intel data, targeting priorities first.”
“Actium acknowledges receipt of data and is providing us with a rendezvous point and time as well as orders to vacate the battlefield immediately.”
“You heard the man, Hunter. Get us the hell out of here.”
As the Absolution turned toward one of its pre-calculated jump points, Ramirez looked at Lawrence, sitting back, a slight grin across his face.
“Sir, what the hell did you enter into the computer? I wasn’t aware you had been given command authorization codes for this mission.”
Lawrence chuckled “You’re not completely wrong Ramirez. I wasn’t given them for this mission. I entered in my old codes, from when Pierce was my executive officer. That old devil had my codes reactivated just in case. ”
“How could he have known you’d need them?”
“He didn’t. Pierce always liked to leave his options open. When I agreed to this crazy plan he must have figured it’d be worth it reactive my codes, just in case a situation came up where we’d need them.”
“Sir, we are at jump point echo, trajectory adjusted for the new destination, preparing to enter hyperspace.” Hunter’s composure had returned, though he was still drenched in sweat from his recent ordeal.
“Thank you, Hunter.” Lawrence keyed the announcing circuit. “All hands stand down from alert status and standby for hyperspace jump.”
As the ship eased into hyperspace, Lawrence leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. They had survived.
Therefore I Geek 